Shun Goku Satsu
' Shun Goku Satsu' (瞬獄殺, "Instant Hell Murder") also called the "Raging Demon" or the "Instant Hell Murder", is a technique commonly seen in the Street Fighter games. Usually, it is a super move that requires a full meter to execute, is unblockable, and inflicts heavy damage. It is Akuma's trademark attack, although Ryu can use it as well while as Evil Ryu or in Akuma Mode. Akuma poses then warps via Ashura Senkuu towards the opponent to grab them. The screen flashes with light and violent strikes are seen 'as the might of the 16 hells bombard the foe' while the screen is blacked out. Akuma and the opponent reappear, with the opponent face-down on the ground covered in violet flames and the kanji character for 'heaven' is burning in the background (this happens of the opponent is K.O.ed from the attack). This move is unblockable in all of it's appearances. In Marvel vs. Capcom 3 In Marvel vs. Capcom 3 the Shun Goku Satsu in the most powerful attack in the game damage wise. Once activated, Akuma slides across the floor, and grabs the opponent as soon as he makes contact. Opponents outside of sweeping range will be able to jump over it. (MvC3) History of the Shun Goku Satsu The Shun Goku Satsu in the storyline was a very powerful, but fatally dangerous technique taught in the original principles of the martial art taught by Goutetsu. The move usually defeats the opponent instantly or kills them while destroying their soul. In storyline, this attack doesn't kill targets that don't have a soul. While immensely powerful, some characters have survived its wrath. Gill faced a Shun Goku Satsu head on, but because of his Resurrection ability, he survived the encounter. Gen also managed to withstand the attack by emptying his soul in time before it could consume him, but it took a lot of power to do so. M. Bison has faced it at the end of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, but kept a portion of his life force and a part of his soul within Rose which allowed him to come back in Street Fighter 4. Gouken, Akuma's brother has also been confirmed to having survived. This was due to his embrace to "emptiness" within his fighting style. It was most likely that Gouken perfomed a soul evacuation much like Gen but somewhat mistimed it, resulting in Gouken lapsing into a comatose state. Concept & Creation The actual attack of the Shun Goku Satsu is never displayed explicitly onscreen. When performed, the user glides towards the opponent and grabs them. Before anything can be seen, the screen blacks out as the character is relentlessly beaten as showcased by a series of flashes. At the end, the opponent is found on the ground, knocked out as the user stands over the opponent, usually with their back turned to the screen. The Shun Goku Satsu is revealed to be linked with Akuma's design. His design inspiration came from the Nio, the twin, wrath filled guardians of the Buddha (which are seen in some of Akuma's stages in various Street Fighter games). In some Buddhist beliefs, there are sixteen hells which punish the soul, eight of fire and eight of ice. The Shun Goku Satsu is the channeling of these sixteen hells to the opponent's soul through the user's soul, which in gameplay is displayed as fifteen hit sparks and, provided that the opponent's health is low enough, he/she will die in the final hell which is displayed as fire and the "ten" kanji symbol in some games. Due to the fact that sixteen hells are being channelled through the user to destroy the opponent's soul, the user is put at immense risk - if the user fails to maintain a Zen state of mind throughout the course of the technique, it will backfire and turn the punishment of the sixteen hells on the user. Trivia *In Gouken's ending in Street Fighter IV, the Shun Goku Satsu is shown as a mighty punch enveloped in crimson energy. Ironically, the Street Fighter US animated series predated this exact depiction, though the energy was violet-colored. *In the original Street Fighter RPG game, the Shun Goku Satsu and its user, Akuma, don't exist. But the fans of the game developed one version of this maneuver at "Street Fighter RPG Brasil"[2]. *The Shun Goku Satsu in Street Fighter 4 has the words in the background, in which Akuma also iterates, "Isshun sengeki". This translates to "one thousand defeats in one blink" (Literally "One blink, thousand defeats"). An English "mistranslation" has the move treated as being "Die one thousand deaths". *In Touhou Hisoutensoku, the character Suwako Moriya has a strongest spell card very similar in effect to the Shun Goku Satsu. Seen here *Akuma is the only character who uses the Wrath of the Raging Demon, this attack might have been perfected throughout his relentless training and will to kill other fighters. *Shun Goku Satsu also puts together Budda beliefs of the sixteen hells with 16 hits (counting the grab at the start of the attack and the 15 hits afterwards).